


Heart of Gold

by Beyond_Us (orphan_account)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cults, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 04:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19041046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Beyond_Us
Summary: Keith is in a cult called the Blade of Marmora, and he finally leaves the cult but doesn't know how to adjust to the real world.





	1. Opening of the Veil

The walls start to shake and tiny rocks fall from the ceiling. It's chore day. Everyone is pact together underground like a bunch of ants working for their _queen_. The women carry the heavy buckets of water and wash the same old purple clothes. The men skin the pigs and sheep, others cook the same old meal they eat every day. Keith wiped sweat from his brows. His arms and back were starting to ache, but he knew if he stopped he'd be punished. His 'brothers' would bring back the dead pigs. Leaving him in a room that reeked of death. It got achingly hot. Keith doesn't know how he got here, yet. The first thing he saw was a bright light. It was the most beautifulest thing he's ever seen. Kolivan told him stories about that light. He said that it was angels who saved him from the evil world, and for a while Keith believed it. But now he's just not so sure. 

He's questioned his mother, but even she believes Kolivan's lies. So he gained the name arrogant, for being curious on what's really going on. He feels like that's why they locked him up in a room to skin pigs all day. Keith skinned the pig harder, until he noticed he cut his finger. He hates germs. Keith grabs a cloth hanging it dunks it into the water. Wiping his fingers and his arms. He knows everything he's been told is a lie. He has proof, the ground constantly vibrates, the gravel falls from the ceiling. He hears voices. At random times, they have something called minute of silence. Because silence is golden? 

If anyone speaks they would be cursed. Keith was to stubborn to think so, so he yelled and yelled until Kolivan forced someone to wrap a cloth around his mouth. Threatening him to burn him alive if were to ever break the rules again. Keith felt so lost, and scared. He collapsed onto the floor wrapping his arms around his legs. The air was getting so hard to breath, his sight felt so thin. He then hears someone walking down the hall, Keith scurries back up onto his feet pretending he was still skinning the pigs. A man checks on him and writes something. It's a report, Keith doesn't bother making eye contact with him. 

The walls are still bright but the room gets cold. Keith dismembers the pigs and throws them into another bucket. It's now dinner time. He walks down the corridor, as other people follow behind him in a single file line. So perfect, it's almost irritating. Keith sets the bucket onto a hook, on which a women grabs. Throwing it into a large boiling pot. Everyone gets seated, no one talks. They just stare. Several 'sisters' pass out the pig and corn. All 100 people are made sure to be feed well everyday. Kolivan smiles, as he raises from his stool. "Let's pray." He says, and everyone holds each other's hands. "We thank our God Jeepers for giving us a better life. We thank our brothers and sisters everyday for providing us with our needs. We live our life with order, not chaos. We love our life with order, not chaos." Kolivan bats an eye at Keith. 

 Keith sits down and tries not to make a remark. He pretends to enjoy his meal, just as he does every other time. All he hears is just the sound of chewing, and smacking and it throws him off. He can't dismiss himself from the dinner table early, and he can't eat alone. He sits there in anxiety as the sounds get louder filling up the room. He has one more strike before he's going to be burned alive. He wants to leave this place so bad. 

The inside gets colder but the walls are warm. He walks down the hall to his assigned room. His bed is mostly made up of hay and dead leaves, that are now ashes. He throws the quilt over his body and blows out the candle. The room goes dark. His mother doesn't even bother saying anything to him. As the day repeats once again. He feels like he's lost in time, the day will always repeat over and over again until he grows old. 

He makes his way to his assigned room to begin his work once again. It's gets boring just trying to figure out what parts of a pig he's suppose to cut. So he brings a rumpled piece of paper and a tiny pencil. Keith took a nice walk around the rooms and found these things laying on the ground. Putting it together, he ended up finding a new hobby. He scribbles all over it drawing hands and the corridors. He makes sure to hide it, because anything new that is found will be compensated. It's the only way Keith could express his feelings without getting in trouble. Or no one noticing. Keith continued drawing and dancing around the room as if he were a child. 

He played with the dead pigs, humming softly to himself. 'I'm going to get out of here.' He told himself. Keith flopped onto the floor smiling, he could imagine how amazing it would be to get out of here. Maybe the angels roam the Earth, or he gets to see stars for the first time. "Keith!" A familiar voice called out. Keith let out a heavy sigh, and all those fantasies suddenly vanished.

Kolivan stood tall over Keith, his hands reached out towards Keith grabbing his collar. "Are you not suppose to be skinning the pigs?" Keith glanced at the pigs in the corner. 

"I was taking a break." He whispers, he tries to pry the hands off of him. 

"You are by far the most laziest worker here. I had enough of your disgusting behavior." Kolivan was too strong for Keith, as he pulled him up onto his feet dragging him out the room. "I should have never gave you chances, you piss me off to easy." There was a rule to not use profanity, guess Keith pissed him off. "You're going to be punished, but you better be glad that I'm not about to choke you out where you stand." 

Keith groans in pain as Kolivan drags him around the rooms. He finally throws him down on the floor. "Your punishment is to be left out in hell, you will burn for the remaining of the day and you will return back to your work!" 

Keith was scared. Kolivan warned him about hell, it was made for people who did wrong. As they were tortured for eternity. "W-wait, I really was taking a break. Please I don't-" He pleaded before he was cut off. Two men grabbed his arms, they looked disappointed in him. Other men were opening something, Keith turned his head back to see a door. He swallowed hard. Krolia came up running to see what was going on. And for once her expression was different. 

"You cannot do that to him! He's a naive child." She begged. Kolivan scoffed at her, and tried leading her away from what was happening. Keith's eyes starting burning as something bright peaked through the door. And with that, a blast of heat hit Keith. He blinked as he looked around, all he saw was orange and a bright blue thing floating. He's never seen it before and he's scared. 

The men tied him up on a cross, as Keith struggled. "Please, I don't want to be here. Please.." The men looked guilty. They walked off into the distance. Keith's mind was no longer focused on getting out of here, or figuring out the truth. He was scared of the truth, he feels like he now sees what Kolivan was talking about. The air was hot, and the air burned. How could oxygen hurt so much? Keith pulled against the cross, but it was too sturdy. He felt beads of sweat starting to trickle down his forehead. It really did feel like he was burning alive. 

How long would he stay out here? Will he die? Will Satan come and eat him? Keith shut his eyes to prevent himself from crying. But he felt his lip quiver. In shame and out of guilt. Keith's lungs tightened up, and he could see his skin turn red. "Oh my goodness, no no." He looked away, this might be the demon going to possess his body. "No, no, no no, no, no." He repeated, he repented. 

"Hey!" A voice shouted from the distance. Keith's heart dropped, the demon must be coming. "Hey! W-what are you doing out here?!" The voice was closer. Keith could see a random figure, it's stature was huge. "What the hell? What are people doing out here?" He said. 

The thing came closer to Keith, he could feel it. He kept his eyes shut. "Hey, don't be scared what happened? How'd you end up on a cross?"  The man started to unwrap the rope on Keith's legs. When Keith felt his legs being untwined he immediately tired to kick the man. "Whoa whoa, It's okay." 

"NO! You're the demon!" Keith yelled at him. "I repent! I really do!" 

The man placed his hands on his hips. "There's no demon. Are you okay?" He reached up to try and unravel the rope across his wrist. "Let me help you." 

Keith frowned. "No demon? Then where's the demon?" He asked, trying to calm down. But he didn't let his guard down.

"He's probably in hell, or I don't know. But there's nothing here. How did you get here?" He unraveled the second rope as Keith fell down from the cross. The man gracefully caught him in his arms. 

Keith felt a wave a nausea hit him. He collapsed onto the soft dirt. He dug his fingers into it. "It's soft." He said. 

"Yeah it's sand, um please answer my question. Whatever happened I would have to contact the police okay?" He placed on hand onto his shoulder. "You look sick and pale. How long were you out here?"

"Stop asking questions." Keith said. "This ground is so soft, it's so hot. How is this not hell? It's hot." 

"Okay you're delusional." The man stood up onto his feet. "Stay here, I'm going to get my friends." Keith squinted as he looked up at the man gathering his features. His hair was black and white, with a scar over his nose. He really is the devil. Keith thought, he rested himself against the dirt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing against religion, I just like cults. Also um if you haven't noticed I keep re-writing stories because I don't like them. So if this gets deleted you know why.


	2. New Home

Shiro ran through the sand alerting his friends. He saw the poor boy collapse onto the ground, his instincts told him to get help NOW! "Guys! Guys, there's like a guy over there who is talking about some demon. He fainted, we need to get him to the hospital or something." 

Lance and Hunk paused for a second, then they let out an ugly laugh. "Shiro no one out here is in the desert. You sure you aren't hallucinating?" Lance joked. 

"Go see for yourself if you don't believe me." Shiro folded his arms, letting out a long breath. Lance and Hunk looked at each other before checking out the situation. "Uh he looks dead or something." Lance said walking down the dusty hill. 

"Don't just stand there, come on!" Shiro demanded. Keith's skin was red, and his breathing was unsteady. "Okay help me pick him up from his arms." He told Hunk. Hitching his arms under Keith's armpits. "Hey? Can you hear me?" He asked Keith, but he was unresponsive. His body slouched against the sand. "Okay, don't worry about it." 

Lance wiped the sweat from his forehead. "So...why are we rescuing this...stranger?" 

"What do you mean why? It's a good thing to do, I'm not going to let someone die from a heatstroke." Shiro solicited. "And I don't want to hear about the past Lance. Just please try to participate." 

"Sorry.." Lance crossed his arms. They walked up the sand dunes, while the wind picked up the sand and tossed it into their eyes. Making it harder to get back to their base. Keith on the other hand was light headed. All he could see was black, and voices could barely be heard. He felt his heart relax on him, and his world went dark. 

* * *

 

 

Shiro tosses his bag onto the floor. "People are so weird these days. He was literally about to be crucified or something." He rested onto a chair. 

Lance wandered towards the body on the couch laying before them. "And he called you the devil! Wow, you're a literal angel." He poked at Keith's face.

"Don't do that." Shiro hesitated. "You're going to wake him up, I at least want him to get some sleep or something." 

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Hunk said, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. 

"We should contact the police, call Allura and Pidge." Shiro conceded. He leaned against the wall. "Can you too watch him? I have to go run some errands." 

Lance raised a brow. "What errands?" Hunk mumbled a 'hear we go again' as his expression dropped. 

"It's just an errand, it's not a big deal." Shiro said sharply. Lance looked down at the floor as Shiro left the room. Silence filled the air. Lance sat on a chair turning on the TV. The air of the room felt so awkward. They had a dead guy on the couch, and a mini fight just happened. Hunk opened his mouth but retorted as he tried not to make the situation worse. 

Keith felt a breath of cool air fill his nostrils. The sweat was dry across his body, and his headache was gone. Keith raised his body as his vision was still adjusting to the sight of everything. The colors were so vibrant. He never knew green could be pale, and he was on something comfy. Rather than hard and itchy. He looked over his shoulder seeing to men right before him. Keith's eyes widened. He never stopped to think about where he could be, or what's happening. "UH." He quickly spoke, but it was to soft. "...Uh..I" Say something Keith.

Lance noticed his frequent stuttering. "Oh goodie your awake. Are you good now? Can you leave now or something?" He handed out his hand towards Keith. He stared at it. "Dude...Um Okay. Let's start off with introductions. I'm Lance, this is Hunk and you are?" 

"Don't get close to me. I didn't ask." Keith backed away from Lance. 

Lance looked at Hunk and shrugged. "I didn't even do anything." 

"Then don't ask me." Keith observed his surroundings. He wanted to get up but the 'comfy' forced him to stay. "Where am I?" 

"You're at a base, we search for UFO's and aliens. And it's safe here so there's no demon out to get you. Do you want a glass of water?" Hunk chimed. Keith felt a air of relief when he spoke. He nodded. 

"I don't drink glass though." He said as he grabbed the cup. Lance chocked on his spit, and giggled. 

"No it's in glass, it's not-it's not glass." Hunk assured him. He nudged the glass in his hand. "It's not liquid glass, that window behind you, that was liquid glass but now it's solid." 

"I can see through it." Keith mumbled. He took a sip of the water, and he felt alive. It was nice and icy. Other than the water he had it was dirty and always warm. Keith placed his feet on the floor. He was bare foot. The floor was even soft, and it was pretty. "Is all your stuff soft?" He asked. 

Hunk looked confused. "Um well it's more comfortable that way..If you don't mind telling me, where did you come from? You don't seem to know much about....Anything." 

Keith looked up at the wall. The wall had a texture on it, nothing he's seen before. "I was in a orange room. It was dusty, my mom lived there too. And I was made to skin the pigs, then I was going to be sent to hell because I was _taking a break_." Keith brows frowned. " We ate the same thing everyday, and I didn't like the people there. They're mean, some of them threatened to hurt me. But of course they were angels to Kolivan. So he didn't take my word for it." 

Lance's eyes wandered across the room. "Sounds like a cult to me." 

"Cult?" Keith shuddered. "Those things where they do practices on you?" 

"No it's more like brainwashing. How long have you even been there?" Hunk mused. He moved to sit next to Keith, keeping a distance.

"How long? Until now, I'm in hell aren't I?" Keith made eye contact with Hunk. Hunk could see the pain and fear in his eyes. 

"No, your'e on Earth. You're safe." He reassured. 

"I wouldn't be to sure about that, Earth is like a hell of it's own." Lance grumbled. Hunk ignored him. 

"We should get you to the city, and get to the bottom of this." Hunk said. He stood up grabbing a duffel bag. "Come on Lance, you're going too." He waved his arm at Keith. "Just come follow us. And don't listen to Lance, he's just trying to scare you." 

Lance groaned and Keith's sandy feet left prints all over the hardwood floor. "I'm not cleaning that up." Lance poked at Hunk's arm. They walk back out into the desert and Keith flinches at the temperature. The sand burned his toes, as he curled them in the dust. The dust became hard and gray, Keith stared at the gravel. The mixed colors caught his eye, despite it all being greyscale. They sparkled from the giant orb in the sky. 

Keith stared so hard he almost ran into the jeep in front of him. He paused, confused as to what he was looking at. It was shiny as he saw his reflection. He hadn't seen himself in a long time. "What's that thing?" Keith touched the car. 

"It's my baby, hop in." Hunk patted the yellow jeep. 

"I didn't know humans could have...these kind of babies." Keith scratched his rough hair. Lance laughed even harder.

"I like your sense of humor man." Keith raised a brow. Lance walked around the car, and yelled shotgun. Hunk didn't think Keith even knew what was going on, so he opened the door for him. He cocked his head to the side. Keith slowly got into the car sitting on the hot seat. He yelped as the buckle burned his skin, rubbing his arm. He doesn't like this 'baby'. 

Hunk put his keys in and the jeep started up. The noise surprised Keith. "What's going on?" He started to panic. 

"Oh! Nothing, I promise you'll be alright." Hunk looked back at Keith, giving him a warm smile. Keith took a deep breath and set back on the seat. He looked out the window watching the scenery move. Despite the scenery being filled with orange, it felt a little magical for Keith. And the air felt amazing, it was suffocating outside even though he was in a box (practically) All the hot war drifted out. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, I know Shiro is suppose to fall in Love with Keith but man oh man I love Heith. I hope you don't mind.


End file.
